Deinking process and means for performing same



W. LEWIS DE-INKING PROCESS AND MEANS FOR PERFORMING SAME Dec 25, 1928.

Filed Sept. 1927 INVENTOR WILLIAM LEW/s 5 Y M J4 ATTORNEYS Patented o. 25, 1928,

UNITED STATES 1,696,639 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM LEWIS, OF VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

DEINKING PROCESS AND MEANS FOR PERFORMINGSAME.

Application filed September 6, 1927. Serial No. 217,736.

My invention relates to improvements in de-inking processes and means for performing same, which are particularly adapted to the treatment of newspaper and the like and the removal of the ink theretrom that the resulting pulp may be reused in the formation of further newsprint. The particular objects of the invention are to provide means whereby printed paper is saturated and beaten W in an alkaline solution until it is reduced to a pulp andthe printers ink partly loosened; whereby such resulting pulp is subjected alternately to a straining and a wringing process and further beating processes to liberate any remaining ink therefrom.

The invention consists essentially of a pair of saturating tanks having rotary beaters, a plurality of endless conveyors and further beating tanks, as will be more fully shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a squeegee and its squeegee.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of one of the air discharge boxes.

' In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

The numeral 1 indicates generally a tank which is divided into a pair of vats 2 and 3,

each having afront wall 4 provided with an vat are discharged. To the lower marginal edge of the openings 5 a spout 6 is provided, having an upturned lip 7 which serves to produce an equalized discharge of the contents of either vat over the entire width of the spout 6. The lower half of the vats 2 and 3 is provided with a semi-cylindricalfalse bottom 8 formed with battens 9 spaced apart to define intermediate spaces 10 through which the beaten pulp passes in its flow towards the discharge opening 5.

The numeral 11 indicates a shaft suitably journalled longitudinally of the vats 2 and 3, which shaft is fitted with a pair of beating drums 12 formed with suitable spiders 13 having peripheral rims 14 and a plurality of rubber beater strips 15 which are radially disposed and are mounted between pairs of battens 16 secured to the rims 14. Fitted to 55 close the openings 5 are a pair of sluice ates 17 each of which is mounted in suitable a idea opening 5-, through which the content-s of the.

carried upon the front wall 4 of the tank 1. These gates are each fitted-with a suitable raising means, which in this instance is shown as a vertical screw shaft 18 which passes through a collar 19 mounted upon the wall 4 and an internally threaded hand wheel 20 engaging the screw, so that very slight vertical ad ustment can be made-to the gates to control with accuracy the amount of liquid flowing therethrough.

The numeral 21 indicates generally a frame which is adapted to support a pair of endless convevors respectively numbered 22 and 23, which are formed of a wire cloth of a suitable mesh for the paper to be treated. The screen 22 moves about an upper roller 24 which is fitted to a shaft 25 driven from a suitable source of power, the lower end of the screen having movement around an idler 26. The upper run of the conveyor 22 is supported in an inclined plane by a plurality of suitably mounted rollers 27 which are disposed in close proximity to each other and are enveloped by an endless belt 28 of closely woven cloth or other suitable material such as flannel or felt, which is driven by contact with the wire cloth of the conveyor 22. The conveyor 23 is mounted upon end rollers 29 and 30, the latter being driven from and in an opposite direction to the shaft 25 by a pair of gears 31 shown in dotted line in Figured,

so as to cause the lower run of the wire cloth to travel in the same direction and speed as the upper run of the conveyor 22. A frame 32. pivotally mounted upon the axis of the roller 29 carries a plurality of squeegee rolls 33 which are adapted to bear downwards upon the lower run of the conveyor 23, the frame being provided at its free end with a suitable screw adjustment 34 for the purpose of raising and lowering the rolls in adjusting the gap between the conveyorsf It will be noticed that the space between the opposing runs of the conveyors is wider at the lower end than at the upper end; so that material being carried up between them is progressively squeezed to any desired thickness, de-

ndent upon the adjustment of the squeegee rolls 33. If relatively constant quantities of material are to be treated by the machine, it would suffice to make the uppermost only of the rolls 33 adjustable vertically. Applied to each of the squeegee rolls is a helical squeegee 35, see Figure 3, which is secured at its opposite ends to the frame 32 and is so curved as to direct all liquid collected by the roll to one end thereof and to deliver it into a tray 36 extending beyond the width ot the conveyors. A discharge pipe '37 is titted to the lower end of the tray 36 which 'lelivers the contents into an open trough 38 extending longitudinally of the machine and which serves to collect the liquid from the several units thereof. The numeral 39 indicates a tank divided by a central wall 40 to form an agitating vat 41 and a diluting vats 42, the said central side wall being somewhat less in height than the tank 39. The side walls of the agitating vat 41 are provided with spacedpins 43 projecting towards each other, between which a heater 44, comprising a suitably driven shaft 45 and spaced projecting pins 46 is adapted to rotate. This heater is preferably fitted somewhat below the normal liquid level of the vat so as to cause a thorough disturbance of its contents during all running periods. The conveyors 22 and 23 and the tank 39 and their associated parts constitute a squeezing and agitating unit, which units are placed end to end to form a machine capable of handling any paper and completing the de-inking in a any suitable source.

continuous process.

The numeral 47 indicates a feed line having valved branches 48 for delivering water to the receiving vats 2 and 3, and as many sets of branches 49 and 50 as there are units to the machine. The branches 49 deliver water to the agitating vats 41. The branches 50 are fittedwith horizontal pipes 51 which are apertured on their upper sides to provide a flow of water for the purpose of keeping all the pulp in suspension and finally discharging it over a weir 52 thence along a spout to the next conveyor 22. The machine obviously terminates with a pair of conveyors 22 and 23 which deliver the .de-inked pulp in a semi-solid state into a suitable receptacle. As a means of preventing the clogging of the wire cloth forming the conveyors, I provide a pair of air discharge boxcs'53, see Figure 4, which extend across each conveyor in contact with the wire adjacent the rollers 24 and 30, which boxes are supplied with a flow of air entering through a pipe 54 from The numeral 55 indicates a motor which imparts rotation to the several shafts through a plurality of belts 56.

Having thus described the several parts of my invention I will now briefly explain its use.

A suitable alkaline solution is poured into one of the vats 2 or 3 and printed aper from which the ink is to be removed is p accd therein and is acted upon by a heater drum 12. \Vhcn the paper has been completely saturated and reduced to pulp through being passed between the beatingstrips 15 and the battens 9 it will gravitate between the battens into the lower half of'the vat from whence it is discharged through the opening 5 at a suitable speed which is obtained by raising or lowering the sluice gate by rotating the hand wheel 20. The vats 2 and 3 are. adaptedto be filled and emptied alternately so as to provide a substantially continuous feed to the conveyors. As the liquid pulp flows down the .spout 6 and is spread by the upturned lip 7 so that it flows thereover in an even stream onto the upward run of the convcyor 22. The pulp, as it is carried upwards,

is brought under the conveyor 23, the squeegee rolls 33 of which are so adjusted that the mass of pulp is gradually compressed to discharge some of its alkaline fluid content and ink which pass through the wire mesh of the conveyors and the cloth belt 28, the semidried pulp being discharged in ribbon form into the agitating vat 41. A supply of water is admitted to the pulp in the vat 41 to permit of it again being brou 'ht to a proper consistency and thoroughl y beaten up by the beater 44. The pulp flows in a continuous stream over the dividing wall 40 into the vat 42 where its consistency is brou ht to a more liquid state by the upward i ow of water from the branch ipe 51, tending to increase the liberation of ink from the pulp which is then discharged over the weir 52 into other units of conveyors and the like until all ink or other undesirable substance is removed therefrom andthe pulp delivered clean ready for reuse in paper making.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The process of de-inking newspaper and the like which consists of saturating the printed paper insan alkaline solution, of reducing it to a pulp then subjecting the pulp to pressure between opposing surfaces which are impervious to the pulp but are capable'of passing the ink and the solution.

2. The process of de-inking newspaper and the like which consists of saturating the printed paper in an alkaline solution, of reducing it to a pulp then subjecting the pulp to pressure between opposing surfaces which are impervious to the pulp but are capable of passing the ink and the solution, of disintegrating)the pulp in a further solution, agitatin it; y beating and diluting same and of subjecting the pulp to a further squeezing process.

3. A printed paper de-inking machine comprising a saturatlng vat adapted to receive the paper having a rotary beater, a discharge from the vat, a. pair of opposed wire cloth conveyors between which the material discharged from the vat is adapted to be passed and means for subjecting the said material to pressure as it passes between the conveyors.

4. A printed paper dc-inking machine comprising a saturatmg vat adapted to receive the paper having a rotary beater, a discharge from the vat, a pair of opposed wire cloth conveyors between which the material discharged from the vat is adapted to be passed,

and means for subjecting the mid material to progressively increasing passes between the conveyors. 5. A de-inking machine comprising urating vat having a rotary beater,

presure as it a sat a discharge from the vat, an upper and lower wire cloth conveyor between which the material discharged from the vat ,is adapted to be passed and an endless belt of absorbent material in contact with the material bearing portion of the lower conveyor.

6. In a tie-inking mac me having a sat urating vat from which the paper to be deinked is adapted to flow onto an endless wire cloth conveyor in pulp form andfhaving means for expressing liquid from the pulp,

and means for dislodging any pulp adhering to the wire cloth of the conveyor.

7. In a de-inking machine having a saturating vat from which the paper to be deinked is adapted to flow onto an endless wire cloth conveyor in pulp form and having means for expressing liquid from the pulp,

and means for dislodging any pulp adhering to the wire cloth of the conveyor, said means being characterized by a box extending transof the conveyor on its inner side.

versely through which a fluid is adapted to flow.

8. In a de-inking machine having a saturating vat from which the paper to be deinked is adapted to flow between an upper and a lower wire cloth conveyor, squeegee rolls to said upper conveyor adapted for relative movement towards the carrying surface of the lower conveyor, and means for wiping liquid from the squeegee rolls during the operation of the conveyors.

9. The combination with a pair of liquid containers formed side by side, each having a discharge opening, a spout common to both openings having an upturned lip forthe purse described.

Dated at Vancouver, B. (1., this 31st day of August, 1927.

WILLIAMLEWISF. 

